Question: I actually have two ...

Question: I actually have two questions. First, didn't Patricia Heaton play in a comedy that ran for a short time with Delta Burke as a congresswoman filling the seat left open after her husband's death? I think Heaton played one of Burke's advisors. I also wanted to know the name of a short-lived Mel Brooks comedy from the '70s, about a Medieval kingdom. Kind of a Men in Tights thing. — Joyce, New Cumberland, W.V.

Televisionary: Well, I actually have two answers, Joyce.

Yes, Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond) did indeed appear in the short-lived Women of the House, which was a sequel of sorts to Designing Women (more about that here). DW's Suzanne Sugarbaker (Burke) went to Washington to finish out her congressman husband's term after he died. Heaton played Natalie, Suzanne's chief of staff, while Teri Garr played press secretary Sissy and both Julie Hagerty and Valerie Mahaffey played the role of receptionist Jennifer.

And the Brooks show you're thinking of is When Things Were Rotten, a Robin Hood comedy that ran on ABC for just four months beginning in September 1975. Dick Gautier (Get Smart) was the dim Robin Hood, Misty Rowe (Hee Haw) was Maid Marian, Dick Van Patten (Eight Is Enough) was Friar Tuck, Bernie Kopell (The Love Boat, Get Smart) was Alan-a-Dale and Ron Rifkin (Alias), true to evil form, was Prince John.